Objectives of general skills

• Implement an academic view on knowledge, particularly through the mastery of methods and literature research tools.
• Understand, synthesise and discuss complex information and texts on economics and management.
• Summarise the contributions of different sources to justify an opinion or decision
• Develop and structure reasoning by basing it on suitable scientific arguments
• Actively master the fundamental concepts and models of economic sciences and management sciences
• Identify and explain the concepts, principles and models of fundamental theoretical trends in economic sciences and management sciences and their applications.
• Understand how organisations and markets work
• Understand the methods and tools adapted to the field of economics and management
• Acquire basic methodological tools necessary for scientific inquiry in the field of economics and management.
• Conduct relevant research from scientific literature and select appropriate elements with respect to a particular research topic.
• Describe the principles of methodological approaches (objectives, methods, techniques and tools) to understand and explain the functioning of organisations and markets.
• Give a critique and argue a point of view as part of a scientific approach
• Critically compare knowledge acquired to real situations.
• Identify and explain the concepts, principles and models of fundamental theoretical trends in economic sciences and management sciences and their applications.
• Develop and structure reasoning by basing it on suitable scientific arguments
• Demonstrate an acute sense of analysis, criticism and ethics in relation to various issues in economics and management.
• Demonstrate working and analytical rigour.
• Be rigorous and independent in learning, particularly through adequate planning of activities to be undertaken in order to best utilise the time available.
• Develop their scientific curiosity and open-mindedness
• Demonstrate self-awareness, assess themself, and adapt.
• Actively master a knowledge base in human, legal and social sciences, essential for analysing problems in economics and management.
• Understand the implications of different human sciences on the way organisations and markets work.
• Understand extensive problems in certain areas of econonomics and management.

UE's Learning outcomes

This UE first covers Labour economics. At the end of this course and through a specific analysis of the labour market, the students will be able to analyse labour supply from either quantitative (participation) and qualitative (human capital) perspectives, labour demand and the role played by wages and other labour costs. The students will also be able to tackle numerous and simultaneous interrelations that appear between households and firms on this market, together with their effects in terms of wages and employment. From an individual point of view, the course will also allow them to apprehend decision processes in terms of education, training or migration.    During the second term, it is then followed by a Seminar in labour economics, during which students learn how to apply labour economics concepts and mecanisms to a topic related to wages. They also learn how to build a rigorous and well-argued approach in order to suggest policy recommandations with respect to the investigated topic.    This UE also covers Microeconomic complements, where students are able to understand basic mechanisms explaining the relations between economic agents observed among actual markets, and to carefully consider simplifying assumptions coming from marginalism.    Next, Macroeconomic analysis 2 allows students to: get familiar with major theories of growth and of medium term macroeconomics under floating rates; get acquainted with the use of business cycle indicators and of simulation models for policy purposes; get an historical perspective on current developments by reading selected classical texts and analyses of significant episodes.

UE Content

This UE first covers Labour economics, whose contents are the following ones: labour supply : definition, participation; hours worked and effort; investment in human capital; (short run) labour demand, productivity and wages; (long run) demand, substitution and scale effects, technology; supply and demand, wages and employment; adjustments on the labour market and wage cycles; search process; migration; vacancies and unemployment, structural and demand-related unemployment; unemployment dynamics.    During the second term, it is then followed by a Seminar in labour economics, during which groups of 3 students analyse a topic related to wage determination (bargaining, wage determination at the firm level, wage discrimination,...). They consider recommended references and also search for additional references in order to realise a survey that enables then to answer three questions, namely (i) what does the topic consist of and how can it be understood (what are the underlying mechanisms)? (ii) what happens with respect to Belgian and/or European evidence? (iii) what kind of policies could be suggested? Papers have first to be written and next to be presented and discussed.    This UE also covers Microeconomic complements, focusing on basic concepts related to price theory (theory of the firm, of production costs) and to market structures (perfect competition and monopoly).    Next, Macroeconomic analysis 2 proposes to cover the following contents: Solow growth model; endogenous growth;  medium term equilibria under floating rates (Mundell-Fleming); business cycle indicators; macroeconomic models and forecasts; variable themes chosen in function of current macroeconomic developments (e.g., Solow growth model; endogenous growth;  medium term equilibria under floating rates (Mundell-Fleming); business cycle indicators; macroeconomic models and forecasts; variable themes chosen in function of current macroeconomic developments (e.g., analyses of the sovereign debt crisis), and discussion of classical texts.

Prior experience

UW-B2-SGEGIG-001-M – Microeconomics 1 ; UW-B2-SGEGIG-002-M – Macroeconomics

Term 1 for Integrated Assessment - type

• Written examination

Term 2 for Integrated Assessment - type

• Presentation and works
• Oral Examination
• Written examination

Term 3 for Integrated Assessment - type

• Presentation and works
• Oral examination
• Written examination

Resit Assessment for IT - Term 1 (B1BA1) - type

• N/A